Tummy time

[Sunisshining12]

Sorry if i've posted in the wrong section. I'm interested to hear from those that HAVE NOT practiced regular tummy time.

At what age could your child lift their own head? And at what age push up? Did it affect their crawling/other skills?

[MoodyOne]

My LO hates being on his tummy so never did tummy time, he is 10 months and is bum shuffling... but is more interested in cruising on the sofa and piping himself up and round the table. I don’t think he will crawl to be honest and he’s fine shuffling and pulling himself up till he can walk.
I think each baby is different x

[Sunisshining12]

@moody, if you put your LO on his tummy now can he lift his head up at all or push up?

[ButtMuncher]

My little was regularly lifting his head around 3 months, but loathed tummy time. He was an exceptionally late roller (7/8 months) and is still not walking (14 months) but very confident in cruising and crawling. He's really strong, but for some reason doesn't have a lot of drive to walk

Do you have concerns OP?

[hedwig2001]

I can't remember specifics, but without tummy time my son did not crawl. He bum shuffled, the walked late at 18months. Now a hulking great teenager.

[MiddlingMum]

I think it's a fairly new thing. A couple of decades or more ago when I had babies, it hadn't been invented, or at least nobody had heard of it. All my DCs peers seem fine, they are all big strong adults now. Maybe it's only relevant if there is a perceived problem?

[Sunisshining12]

Well I have practiced tummy time daily (albeit only a small amount daily 5 minutes or so since LO hates it & uses all energy to cry). Once my LO got to 6 months he sat unaided & I have dwindled off tummy time doing less & less since he is almost always sitting. I now feel awful for this as my LO cannot lift his head at all when on tummy let alone push up. I wish I had done more tummy time as I'm worried I have hindered his development. Not sure where to go from here.

[IncyWincySpiderOnRepeat]

We rarely did any tummy time with DD as she absolutely hated it and would literally scream every time we tried.

She was a little late sitting (9 months) and walking (15 months) but now races around just as confidently as her peers without any issues at all at 2.5 years.

Can't remember when she started to crawl, but think it was around the usual time and she was a terror as she was so fast...

Not sure if the lack of tummy time contributed to the slightly late sitting and walking but if so there has certainly been no lasting effects....

[Silversun83]

@MiddlingMum, I think the emphasis on tummy time is a fairly new thing but it is definitely linked to building the muscle tone needed for rolling, crawling etc.. Babies obviously used to get tummy time when the advice was to put them to sleep on their fronts.. Obviously it is a massively positive thing that that advice has changed but it's why people believe that the average crawling age is now later than it used to be.

OP, try not to worry though.. I think the majority of babies will walk okay with no problems whether they crawled or not (it's why there's no milestone ages for crawling, only walking) and some babies are just not fans of tummy time.. Obviously please speak to your HV if you have concerns with your DC's physical development like being able to lift their head.

[ShowOfHands]

Mine hated tummy time and I rarely bothered. Both rolled at 12 weeks, crawled at 5 months and walked at 9 and 11 months respectively.

They lived in the sling and slept on my chest (never had a cot or similar) and I think they actually got tummy time but on me.

If you're concerned, you must talk to a healthcare professional.